~I still remembered the day it all began, 6 years ago, I had thought it was just a box... but I had destroyed the world. It.... had appeared on my doorstep the day before my birthday. My parents hadn't been home then, and the box was so strange, I had to see what was inside it. Just as I was taking it to my room my parents came home, so I hid the box under my bed and forgot about it by pretending it wasn't there. Until I fell asleep that is.

  As soon as I shut my eyes I began to dream of the box, and all the wonderful things that could be inside it, and though it felt like I'd only slept a second it was only minutes before midnight when the urge to open the box awoke me. I bent over the edge of my bed and pulled the box to me. It was beautifully decorated with strange symbols, snakes and jewels, with a single pearl in the mouth of the largest snake. I couldn't stand it any longer, thinking that such a beautiful box must contain something ten times more wonderful, and I pried the latches open, but before I could lift the lid it flew open, and a single speck of brilliant light flew out.

  I was instantly enchanted by it, and my eyes followed it as it flew around my room in circles, then another joined it, then another and another, and before long hundreds of thousands of tiny specks of light were flying around my room, dazzling and entrancing to watch, leaving me in complete awe, unable to move or think. I felt like I could hear them talking, but at first I didn't know if it was them or my imagination, softly whispering, millions of tiny whispers. But when I started hearing them clearly I began to get scared. They all seemed to speak of death and destruction, of killing every living thing in the world. I tried to scream, but my mouth wouldn't move. Nothing would move. All I could do was watch in terror as the shards of light flew violently around, crashing into my stuff, destroying everything in my room, and then suddenly, disappearing through the walls. All except one shard simply vanished, and just that one shard remained, a single shard that seemed to watch me. I blinked once and before I could even open my eyes I felt a stabbing pain in my chest, sleep suddenly hitting me, and I laid in the wreckage of my room, sleeping among the chaos.

  I don't remember exactly when I woke up, but everything was still dark. I heard noises outside my room, like claws dragging across the tables and walls. I locked my door and hid behind my bed, bumping the box and knocking it over as I did. A sword fell out as the box toppled, and while I was only ten at the time, I had read hundreds of books about heroes and mighty knights wielding swords and fighting away the monsters. I didn't stop to wonder how this huge sword had come from such a tiny box, I only grabbed it and turned towards my door, ready for anything.~

  Something moved in the distance, breaking me from my memories, and I took a quick glance around to make sure I hadn't wandered anywhere dangerous but even through the sandstorm that had brewed I could feel the warm and gentle touch of the sun, so then I turned back to where I'd seen the movement. I couldn't see much at all, so I glanced around once more before taking a few steps forward, but as soon as I took my third step an arrow came from the sky with such force it cracked the cement a few inches ahead of my foot. A warning shot, maybe. I stopped moving and looked forward, squinting. The wind was picking up, making it harder to see through the dust and dirt it carried, but there was definitely something or someone out there. I didn't know what to think, because I'd never seen one of the monsters use a weapon of any sort before. I wanted to believe it was human, but it had almost shot me too, so I couldn't be sure if I was safe. It felt like I stood there forever, but no more arrows were shot, so I took a step forward.

  Another arrow came from nowhere, close to my ear, and I stopped again, watching and listening. Through the winds I heard a soft voice, almost non-existent, "Who are you?"

  I put my sword into my homemade cloth sheath before speaking "I..." I paused a moment, for I hadn't needed to say my name in years "I am Joshua Thornbeck."

  "Make any sudden movements and I'll kill you Joshua."

  "I'm not here to kill you. I'm not one of those things."

  "Say what you want, every monster is crafty, and you only get smarter each day."

  I took another step backwards, "If I were one of them I wouldn't be in the sunlight. Neither of us would." I was hoping I was making a compelling argument, but I couldn't tell if she was listening or getting ready to fire another arrow.

  "I know every living human in the city, I've never seen any of the creatures in sunlight, but there's a first time for everything."

  "There are more humans?"

  "What?"

  "I've never seen any other humans in the city before."

  "Damn! You stay away from us!"

  Time seemed to slow down, and I was immediately aware of every detail in my surroundings. I could hear and feel each individual grain of sand and speck of dust around me, and as I watched them nearly suspended in mid-air I could also see between them, just barely making out the face of a girl, letting go of the arrow on her bow with a loud twang. I watched as the arrow began to soar through the air, and I tried moving out of the way. Even though I was also moving slowly, I was able to just barely dodge the arrow, which zipped past my ear with a thunderous roar as time sped up again.

  "Stop!"

  I felt another arrow coming, and pulled my sword out, turning it broadside and using it as a shield. Time was slowing down again, and I began running at the person, but it felt like running through mud. Apparently me running at the girl scared her because she seemed to turn around and begin to run too. I put one foot in front of the other as fast as I could, and I felt myself picking up speed, and feeling less like I was crawling through mud and more like I was speeding through the air, sand grinding against my skin so hard it was like sandpaper.

  "Ow..." I looked over and suddenly realized how fast I had been running to get from where I had been to the girl so quickly, and why she had been scared. I had been moving as quickly as one of the monsters, and without realizing it I had run her over.

  "Get off spectre, get off and go away!" She screamed, kicking me in the side and making me wince. I tried to get up, but she got up faster and put a heel to my head. "What the hell are you? You... look human, but no human runs that fast, and they'd never survive out here."

  I tried to turn my head, maybe move my arm and grab the person's foot, but I couldn't move it. I couldn't even feel it, and I started to wonder if it was broken as everything began to go black.



  As I started to regain consciousness I heard a buzz of voices, two standing out louder than the others.

  "He's wakin up boys, lookit this."

  "Scrawny, ain't e? They usually bigger an this... least the ones I fought were."

  "You ain't never fought a Spectre Joe."

  "Did too, and I gots a scar ta prove it."

  The two voices rambled on about Joe's supposed fight as I lifted my head and opened my eyes.

  "You know, Alli, bringin a Spectre in here ain't no good idea," A new voice began, "We don't even know what kinda Spectre e is. If he's a a Shadow Spectre, we're all dead."

  "Shut up Jake, if he was a Shadow Spectre I'd be dead already. Besides, there's something not right about him. He's like me, only... different."

  All the voices seemed to stop at the same time.

  "He walks in light, and he carries a sword. He even speaks our language. But he's not one of us. He dodged my arrows without being able to see, and he moved so fast he could have killed me if he weren't so clumsy. Either the Spectres have really let themselves go, or he's something else entirely."

  "But Alli, your gift of aimin is a gift from tha heavens."

  "Shut up, I told you already that my gift comes from practice."

  "Yer arrows don't even bend in the wind, you never miss a target not even when you cain't see it, you jus hafta know it's there, ya cain't practice things like 'at."

  "Say what you will, we're not discussing me right now anyways."

  I opened one eye slowly, looking around. Every eye in the room was upon me, and I couldn't stand all the attention. For a moment I wanted to cover my face, but when I tried to pull my arms up I found them chained to the floor, so I slowly closed my eyes to think. I was trapped, in what looked like a basement full of humans, by a girl my age with uncanny skill with a bow. It could be worse. It can always be worse.

  "Open your eyes and look at me." Her voice was steady and commanding, she was definitely used to being in charge, and being chained to the floor with no way to defend myself, I didn't see it in my best interests to go against that. Slowly I lifted my head and opened my eyes, "Yes?"

  "What are you?"

  I paused for a second, thinking of every possible way to get out of this. without getting her to unchain me I had no chance, so I had to make her believe in my humanity, "If you want to know what I am look into my eyes and tell me."

  I knew I had her there, even though she looked a little steamed. No one could deny that pleading look in a monster's soul, the way it begged for release. I couldn't be sure, but it was like the monsters tortured the souls of their own bodies for amusement. But no matter what the reason was, you could always see it in their eyes, and she wouldn't see it in mine.

  "Jack, bring me the key."

  "No mam, don't look into his eyes! I think he's playing yer mind!" As I watched the man I assumed to be Jack tackled Alexa, but as they hit the floor he had Alexa's knee purposely well placed between his thighs.

  "I'm your leader, don't you think I'm smarter than that you idiot?" I hadn't needed to hear her say that to know she was in charge anyways, "He's innocent, his soul is not burdened by the presence of a Spectre. I've seen enough of the monsters in my lifetime to know the difference." She kicked Jack once more for good measure, and I cringed at the thought of the pain he must have been enduring at that moment. She stood up and walked to a table with an over-sized silver key, which she brought behind me before she leaned in close behind my ear, "If you so much as look at any of my men funny you'll be dead before I can give the order." With that there was a snap and my hands were free, and like a moron instead of playing it cool the first thing I could do was fall forward, flat on my face.

  After a moment there was another snap and my ankles were free, and I slowly tried standing, though my legs were hurting pretty badly. No doubt from my earlier encounter with Alexa. "Is this how you treat all your guests, or am I just lucky enough to get the deluxe treatment?" I rubbed my sore wrists, but I didn't dare look up.

  "Shet up, I dun wanna hear no sound outta you or we'll throw ya right back out to tha Spectres."

  I was starting to feel a little braver, so I looked up at the speaker, a boy my age, about my height, maybe an inch or so shorter with shoulder length messy black hair, but before I could say anything I felt some one's hand on my chin. My first instinct was to grab the person's arm and twist, but I only got so far as grabbing the arm before two people had drawn pistols out. I let my hand fall slowly, and Alexa turned my face to hers.

  "I still don't trust you... your eyes are not normal. Maybe not burdened by a spectre, but certainly not human."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "I tells ya Alexa, e's dangerous! Throw im out to tha spectres and le's move on!" The man on the floor didn't seem to give up very easily, but Alexa put a foot to his chest and pushed him backwards.

  "Your eyes. that day they glowed yellow. The same color my eyes glow when I use my bow. I can still see it, not much but a tiny speck in the middle of your pupil.

  She took something out of her back pocket and handed it to me, a make-shift mirror, and as I looked into it I realized how long it really had been since I'd looked in a mirror. Even more strange, she was completely right. At the center of each pupil was a speck of glowing golden yellow, but what was more amazing was that I didn't look anything like I remembered. In fact, I couldn't remember anything about how I used to look. I stopped worrying about my looks, and started making the quickest and simplest plan I could, and as I decided what I had to do the tiny speck in my eyes grew larger and brighter, until they were glowing bright yellow. Before anyone could move a muscle I was dashing through the room, dodging and weaving between the goons. I felt sluggish again, but everyone in the room seemed almost... frozen. I saw them moving, but they weren't moving nearly as fast as me. Except for Alexa. She wasn't as fast as me either, but she was moving a lot faster than the rest of the people in the room, running for something else that was on the table, a bow. As I moved I glimpsed her face, and there was no mistaking it. She had the same glow in her eyes. I didn't stop to wonder what it meant, because one of her goons had lifted his gun and was about to fire a bullet. Even with everything being a slow as it was, I didn't want to find out how fast a bullet would look, so I turned straight for the nearest door and rammed it with my shoulder, taking an iron blast door off it's hinges and sending it flying as a bullet and an arrow flew through the air, both narrowly missing me as I ran off.

  I don't remember how fast or far I ran, but I knew I couldn't run any farther without stopping for air first, so I began to slow down and leaned against a building with my shoulder. After a few minutes I had finally caught my breath, and started to look around. It was getting dark, and now I didn't even have the sword to protect myself. My first instinct was to find shelter and water, and maybe even food if I was lucky, so I turned on my heel and went into the building I was leaning on.

  I stood, surprised and dazed as I looked down my own hallway. After all the years of traveling I had never even left the city... or maybe I had been running just fast enough for just long enough to get back. I couldn't tell. I took a step forward and heard a low moan from up the hallway I was standing in, but it was too dark to see. I took a few steps forward and then there was a scream, and I saw something move in the darkness at the end of the hallway. I took a step back, reaching for the sword I didn't have, but I knew I had to get to whatever had screamed. I took a step forward, but the floor was sticky, and it was too dark to see anything. I took another step and I felt something move in response. I had been spotted. I took another step forward, my courage building now. Suddenly the light bulb above me flickered on, and in the corner I could see the limp body of a young girl that had been torn into by the monster standing over her. It tilted it's head, staring at me, but I wasn't paying attention to it. I was looking for any sign that the girl was still alive, despite the blood spurting from her arm, and the deep cuts in her chest and face. Anything, even the smallest breath would have been the greatest comfort, but when she opened her eyes I could see the pain she was in, I could feel it. I wanted to help her, but first I had to go through the monster.

  I took a step back, and the monster moved forward. I took another step back, and the monster took two steps forward. I wouldn't have a very large opening, but I had the feeling I could do more than what I'd already done so far. I felt my foot against the wall now, but the monster's rotten breath was in my face. He thought he was backing me into a corner, that he was making me scared. I jumped, and pushed against the wall with all my might, sending myself flying at the beast before he realized what was happening. I latched onto it's neck and pulled backwards, then with all my strength I swung the monster by it's neck and threw it against the wall, which crumbled under it's weight. the building shuddered, and I ran to pick up the girl and get her out of the building, but in her place was the box, blood soaking into it's golden exterior as if it were a sponge.

  ~"Josh, come down here Josh." I heard my mother's voice, but something wasn't right.

  "Josh, listen to your mother, you're going to be late for school." Father sounded worse.

  I had been hiding in the remnants of my room for three days, sword clutched in both hands as though it could save me and the world just by existing. My parent's voices had been getting stranger and more distorted, but now they were almost nothing but rasping growls. They had been waiting outside my door the whole time, occasionally trying to turn the knob or tempt me to come out with treats and trips. I didn't buy any of it. I had my door locked, with my dresser pushed in front of it, and my bed pushed against that. I wouldn't let them in, even if they were my parents. But they had been getting stronger too. Once they almost got in, but the bed nearly touched the wall, so when they got it open a crack the wall kept them out. Their claws had reached in, long black talons that seemed to drip the very darkness they were made of onto the floor.

  That was the day before, and today I was making a plan. Sword in hand I pulled the bed against the wall and knocked on the wall where their scratch marks had been left. Immediately a claw shot out, but before it grabbed my wrist I brought the sword down, slicing the claws from the hand. I heard my mother scream, but the scream was ghastly, and it chilled me to the bone. As the claws hit the ground I knew I'd made her angry, probably both of them, but that's what I wanted. I had been on my computer, looking at the few web pages that were still working. Most of them seemed to have been destroyed, though, I didn't know much about how the Internet worked. I looked up bombs and explosives, weapons, and the box. I found out that bombs were amazingly easy to make, but I didn't have any of the stuff they talked about in my room. If anything it was all around the kitchen. Sword training would have been easy, but I didn't have time to learn all the techniques that I saw. The only thing left was the box, and I couldn't find anything about it anywhere. I decided on my own what I needed to do.~

I grabbed the box and ran out of the hallway, but behind me I could hear a somewhat familiar hissing sound...

  ~"Joooossssssh, you will pay for that!"

  There was a thud against the door, then another, and soon it was a rhythmic pounding, the wall groaning under the pressure of the bed, the hinges of the door loosening and rattling, and suddenly, it stopped. I closed my eyes, listening to everything around me, and instinct told me to move left. Just as I did there was a great thundering crash, sending the bed through the wall and completely taking the door out of it's frame, my deformed mother already stepping into the room.

  "Joooossshh, don't yooou love meee?" That's the first time I saw into the eyes. They say that your eyes are the gateway to your soul, and I could see my mother's soul clearly, but this thing was not my mother. My sword drooped a bit as I looked at her, one hand severed, the other nothing but long talon-like claws where fingers should have been. Her face was the same, but the teeth were jagged and crooked, and to my shock bloody. Her smile was not one of kindness, but that of a murderous psychopath watching their helpless prey. I never would have imagined my mother becoming something so sinister. But the eyes told me otherwise. The eyes were still the eyes of a kind loving mother, wanting to protect her son with all her might. It was from those eyes that I drew my courage and strength, lifting my sword and plunging it into her heart. As I drew it back the blade came away clean, but the blood that dripped from her wound was almost black, and much thicker than normal blood, like the blood had been drying in her veins. She fell to the floor, and I chopped her neck off and kicked the severed head under the bed. Just as it rolled out of sight my father crawled in on the ceiling, looking down at me hungrily

  "Josh, you sh, should never hit a laady." His eyes were different, they weren't as strong. He had given up and given into the monster already, but I knew what I had to do. I wasn't tall enough to reach up to the ceiling, even with the sword, so I jumped back to my bed, then from there I jumped on my dresser and before I had even thought it through I kicked off and was flying at my father, sword held up so that when I reached him it cut through his shoulder and down to his hip. As he fell to the ground writhing I lifted my sword and brought it down, severing his head and kicking it quickly under the bed. Father's body didn't even bleed, his blood had gone completely dry.

  The next day, when I finally stopped hurling, I took some blankets and wrapped the bodies, dragging them carefully through the hallways and down to the garden. My parents had been the only ones in the building affected, and every door and window had been barricaded shut. They all watched as I walked slowly, placing them by the outside door, waiting for the afternoon when the sun would be facing that side of the building. They refused to open the barricades until then. But both times I had to go back up and get the bodies I heard them. They didn't speak anymore, I had taken their voice boxes, but they moved. They still wanted me. They had only left once, to feed off the neighbors and their kids, but they wanted me so badly for some reason.

  The adults removed the barricades and I dragged the bodies out to the dirt patch. Five times people asked if I wanted help, but I told them the only thing I wanted was anything left of the neighbors, and to be left alone. It took a while, even with the dirt being so soft, to dig six shallow graves, but I finished long before nightfall, and placed the remnants of each body into the graves. That night I slept with another family, and while they slept I stood in the corner. Watching. Guarding them. I knew that the only way they could survive is if someone was there to help them. I had to be the hero I had always heard about in stories, the building was the mighty kingdom under attack and the tenants it's humble villagers. There were a lot of rumors about what the creatures were. Some people said they were vampires, while others argued that they had to be demons punishing humans for their sins. I never told anyone about the box. It had to be my secret, my burden.~

My parents were still here, and as  Iran towards the exit I could see my mother. She hadn't just survived being a severed head, she'd completely regenerated. I looked into her eyes, but my mother's soul had weakened, become almost nothing. She was a hollow shell in her own body. I turned, and realized the monster I had sent through the wall was that of my father, who was already getting up. The old building groaned and seemed to sway, but I could think of only one possible exit. I ran up three flights of stairs, left, then left again and stopping at our apartment. The door was completely gone, and the inside was torn to shreds, but I still remembered everything about it. I heard something move behind me and I ran into the apartment, and straight for my room, jumping on my bed and across to the window overlooking a shorter building. I stopped to say a quick prayer, but a piece of ceiling fell in front of me. The building was coming apart faster than I had expected, so I ran at the window, jumping through the glass and wood, and aiming straight at the building.



  "Wake up." the voice seemed far away, possibly female, but I felt wide awake, despite all the darkness surrounding me, "You must wake up quickly! They're here!" The voice was hurried and low, someone with fear in their voice. I coughed and sat up. "Come on, hurry! Stand up, stand up!" I got to my feet, swaying from side to side, but before I could gain my balance someone grabbed my arm and I was moving, running somewhere through the dark. It was obvious that I was either about to die, or being narrowly being saved from death, but it didn't feel like it mattered much at this point. I felt something warm on my forehead, but the person was pulling me by the arm, so I just left it alone, but suddenly I didn't feel like I was running. I wasn't even moving anymore. I was just existing for a moment. Everything was meaningless and useless, life was just a waste. The things, the monsters, they would take over everything and there would be nothing left. I felt completely hopeless for a moment.

  The darkness went away and I was in a well lit house, a girl with long, beautiful black hair that fell an inch or two lower than her shoulder was holding my hand.

  "Are you alright?" her voice was soft and kind, almost sweet, but something was oddly off about it.

  I blinked twice, trying to remember but everything was going foggy, "I... I'm not sure... what just happened?"

  "They almost got you, you were passed out on a roof. What were you doing? You could have been killed."

  For a moment none of the words were making sense, like she was speaking gibberish, but before I could ask her what she said I started seeing dots move around the room, like living shadows, only... brighter. "How hard did I hit my..." I felt my forehead, and realized that I'd been bleeding for quite a while.

  "Lay down, right there on that bed behind you, I've got all kinds of supplies from my runs, I should have something for a head wound..." she left the room, and I flopped backwards, shutting my eyes tightly and re-opening them, but no matter how many times I tried I could still see the dots. I felt the warm blood trickle sideways, and suddenly I was very aware that I was about to bleed on someones bed. I blinked twice and wiped the blood with my hand, then I wiped my hand on my shirt.

  "So that's why your shirt is so bloody, and here I thought you were just some hero covered in monster blood. And you never answered my question, what was going on out there?" I didn't see her come in, but she was carrying bandages and ointments and all sorts of other medical supplies.

  "A girl, she was being attacked by a monster... I tried to save her, I threw the monster through a wall, but when I looked back she was gone."

  "You don't mean that box do you?" She pointed to the corner where my sword was laid neatly on top of the box, and it took me all my strength to sit up and look at it.

  "You... got it for me... and my sword... Thanks." I laid back slowly, my head pounding, and she went to work cleaning and bandaging my head as I dozed off.



  Three heroes, compelled by their own actions to save the world they once loved from the plague they brought upon it.



  The room was still brightly lit when I woke up, the words from my dream buzzing in my skull. I looked around the room through my one un-bandaged eye, and to my relief the dots had disappeared, but to my disappointment so had the girl. I sat up in the bed, and everything started to spin so fast I couldn't help falling back.

  "You shouldn't sit up so quickly, you just had a head injury, I'm surprised you woke up. You should have gone into a coma." I could hear the girls voice, but I was sure I hadn't seen her in the room, "I couldn't even wake you up, you scared me." The voice seemed somewhat softer than before, but a little more rigid too. It was difficult to describe.

  "Thank you."

  "For what?"

  I paused for a moment and opened my eyes, looking around the room, but she wasn't there. I was going crazy, and it had only taken six years of hell and a cracked skull to do it.

  "For what?" I realized I hadn't said anything for a long time, and I looked around the room again, "Oh... I forgot." The voice sounded sad now, and as I looked to my right again she was suddenly standing right next to the bed, the dotted shadows dancing on the walls and ceiling. I jumped so fast I almost fell off the bed, but she grabbed my arm at the last moment and pulled me back onto the bed at the last moment.

  "Where did you..." I blinked twice, then realized she must have been behind the bed, where I couldn't see. "Well, for starters that, also, for saving my life, twice. Um... anything I'm missing?"

  I heard a little giggle but the girl seemed sad, and her lips never moved. Suddenly there was a sound behind me, and as I turned to look the girl was walking into the room, carrying a tray of food, "Oh, you're awake. That's great, I just finished dinner." I felt a cold chill run down my spine as I looked back and forth between the two. They were nearly identical except that one was smiling and the other was sad.

  "You must be confused..." I looked at the foot of the bed and there was yet another girl, identical in everything except her expression. Hers was somewhat calm and dreamy, and her lips didn't seem to move as she talked, "We are spirits, souls of people that were once trapped by the monsters. Most spirits seek out the fabled spirit world when they die, but we stayed here. Surely you noticed the floating shadows in the room, we are all spirits freed by Mortera."

  I looked around the room one more time, as more and more Mortera seemed to materialize before my eyes, then I gently laid my head back down on the pillow and closed my eyes. It wasn't the craziest thing that had ever happened to me.

  "What are you all doing!" I bolted upright. The voice, it was the one I had heard on the rooftop exactly. "You're going to give the poor guy a heart attack! Shoo!" I opened my eyes as the Morteras started to vanish, and the strange dots that were scattered about the room reappeared, leaving only a single girl standing and looking at me. "Are you ok?"

  "What... was that?" I tilted my head sideways.

  "Those are my friends, and my guardians. The spirits I saved from the monsters. I thought if I saved all the souls I could make up for... I just wanted to help others."

  "Oh... well then I should thank you."

  She blushed deep red, then walked over to me and began unwrapping my bandages, "You... you're not normal are you?"

  I became instantly rigid, ready to run if I had to, "What do you mean?"

  "You're not human, your wounds healed so quickly, it hasn't even been a day and you barely have a scar. Even your hair has grown back."

  Instinctively I reached a hand up to my head to see if it was true, and strangely it was. "What do you mean not human?"

  "You don't have to hide it from me, I'm not human either." I looked up at her "I'm... a Shadow Wraith. But I'm not like the ones that steal souls from people, I steal souls from monsters and free them. I thought I was the only one like this, but you... you heal so quickly. It can't be a coincidence. Has anything strange happened to you?"

  I thought about what I could and couldn't tell her, "I have been feeling really strong lately, and I've been able to run incredibly fast."

  "Hm... that's interesting... I'm..."

  "Mortera?"

  She blushed again and gave a dirty look to one of the dots, which immediately moved across the room, then she nodded gently.

  "I'm Josh, and it's nice to meet you, but I've got to go." I started to sit up, wondering if I really was in a coma. Maybe I was trapped in a dream.

  "You're scared too aren't you?" She gave me a really sad look.

  "No, no I have something I have to do!" I rushed, trying to explain myself before she started crying, but before I could say anything else her eyes started glowing yellow.

  "Then tell me what it is."

  "I can't." I couldn't explain it but I felt an urgent need to grab the box and run, "I would but it's complicated..."

  "I don't believe you! All my friends... even my parents wouldn't come near me. They tried to kill me. Everyone hated me, everyone hates me." A tear formed at the corner of her eye, and suddenly the room got chilly and darker. "I had to kill them just to survive, but they wouldn't die. They were already monsters, I couldn't kill them, so I stole their souls, but even their souls didn't like me. I let them go and they left.. they left me." I could see my own breath, despite how warm the room had been only seconds ago, and the only thing I could see was her face. "Everyone I loved is either dead or a monster, humans don't like me, and now I find someone who is just like me and even they want to leave me. It's not fair!"A wave swept through the room as the words left her lips, gentle but strong enough to rustle my hair and clothes, "I've never done anything but try to help people and defend myself, why does everyone hate me?" I saw her eyes lose all color now, becoming completely white before something like black ink seemed to drip into them.

  "Stop, what are you doing!?" I tried to yell, but everything I said seemed to be muffled, like I was buried under ten feet of dirt, and even with all my force I could only whisper

  "You will not leave me too, I only wanted a friend and you want to abandon me!" Her voice was loud and crystal clear, amplified a hundred times over and echoing throughout the darkness"

  "What I'm going to do... it could be dangerous, I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me." The darkness was closing in on me, and I could feel a horrible presence, something purely evil behind me, and when I turned my head I was standing behind the bed. Only, it wasn't a human me. It looked exactly like me, but it was made of darkness, "Wh-what is that?" My voice wasn't even a whisper anymore, but I felt the darkness inside me, it was my soul, my darkness. It moved but it was impossible to see exactly what it was doing in the shadows. "No... No, this is not me, that is not me!" My voice was clearer now, and I sat up straight, looking at the thing. Now I could see it was holding something. A sword.

  "Your judgement day is upon you." Mortera's voice was still amplified, but at the same time it was softer, like she was a mile away.

  The thing moved and I rolled backwards off the bed as it brought down the sword, slicing straight through it, and I ran for where my sword had been, but as I ran there was nothing, no wall or furniture. I wasn't in the room anymore, I was in myself. It was a strange feeling, and I felt like I knew what I had to do. I stopped and looked back at the shadow me, who was moving slowly and surely, as if it felt I wasn't a threat in any way. I stood just a surely and lifted my right hand to the sky, and as quickly as I raised my hand a spark of light appeared. I grabbed it and pulled my hand down, and as I did I pulled a gleaming light sword from nowhere. I still couldn't see anything around me, but everything was gray except the shadow now. I lifted my new sword and looked into it's non-existent eyes. It wasn't me. It was my fear, my hatred, my anger and fury. It was everything bad about me, but if I killed it, what would I be?

  It vanished before my eyes, then reappeared a few inches away, swinging it's sword down at me in a diagonal slash, and I moved back just as it skimmed my shirt. I moved a step right, bringing my own sword vertically at the shadow, but his sword was already in position to block me, and he easily pushed my sword away, sending me back a step as I swung the sword lower. As he moved his sword down to block it I bent down and sharply pull the sword up in a curve, cutting into it's chest and sending it flying back. On the floor I could see a few drops of red, but they weren't coming from the monster, and as I looked down I saw a deep cut in my chest, blood dripping out from my tattered clothing and leaving my entire shirt scarlet red, but it didn't hurt. I shivered and looked at the creature, who didn't seem interested in moving at me anymore, instead it just stood their, sword at the ready. I couldn't kill it, it knew that but it still defended itself. I stood up, and found myself off-balance, my sword still at the ready and I charged at it, lifting my sword as though I were going to bring it down on the creature, but when it raised it's sword I pulled my sword back and rammed into it with my shoulder. My chest started to burn, and everything went black, but I knew I wasn't in myself anymore.

  I heard soft sobbing, somewhere around me, but I couldn't move at all. My chest burned furiously, and I remembered everything vividly. "M-Mortera?" My voice was weak, but the sobbing stopped, and I felt a movement somewhere. It was a small movement, but I could instantly tell where she was, "Mortera... is that you?"

  "I'm sorry." The apology was choked through a sob, but it was her voice.

  "What happened?" I coughed and my entire body was wracked with pain. I could feel a trickle of blood run down my cheek.

  "I'm so sorry."

  I opened one eye, then the other. I didn't have to see my chest to know that I had a huge gash, but after what had just happened I wanted to see light for a moment. "Mortera, what happened?" I figured my voice must be softer than I thought because she didn't seem to hear me, but when I turned my head to the side I could see her in the corner, watching me. She was crying, but I could see that she was normal again, and the dots didn't seem to be anywhere in the room. "Can you hear me?" She looked up and nodded softly, staring into my eyes. "Then answer me, what happened?" I tried to sound demanding, but I coughed harder and more blood flowed from my mouth.

  "I... made you fight your greatest fear..." I stared a moment before realizing what she meant, my own darkness... the possibility that I was born to cause all this destruction, "I didn't want to do it, but I felt like something was forcing me to... like the darkness was commanding me. I felt like one of those monsters was in me... controlling my soul. I'm sorry."

  I looked down at my chest, and through my shirt I could see soft pink skin that had recently healed. "It's not your fault..." I looked at her sadly, but as I did I tasted the blood in my mouth, coppery and strange. I looked back down at my chest and lifted my shirt, and underneath it was a scar so large it covered most of my chest. I could see some stitches along the length of where the cut had been, and deep inside I felt that she had saved my life again. I looked back at her, but I couldn't find the words to thank her so I swung my feet over the bed and stood up, swaying slightly as I walked to her, bent down and fell asleep in her arms as I hugged her gently.



  I awoke to find myself on her bed once more, but the spirits were all around me, all taking different forms. Possibly even the forms they had once had when they were still human, only silvery and pale. I sat up slowly and lifted my shirt, looking down at my scar, which was now little more than a line from one side of my chest to the other. I felt it, remembering how large the gash had been in my dream, but it looked more like I'd recently been scratched by a thorn rather than sliced open. I was lucky I hadn't actually Stabbed at myself.

  I blinked twice, letting my shirt fall down over my stomach, and as I looked around I noticed that each pale face was staring at me, as if they were being ordered to watch me, so I cleared my throat and began to speak slowly, "Where is Mortera?" There was a stirring among the spirits, some started fiddling with their hair or looking around the room, "Where is she?"

  A small spirit, possibly a child that had died walked up to the side of the bed, "She left up. She told us not to go with her. We protect her." The little girl was tearful, and I even though I couldn't understand what she meant I knew something was terribly wrong. I stood up and looked around the room, then towards the corner with the sword and box. As I walked to the sword the spirits parted, making a space just large enough for me to walk through. Finally I reached the corner, and grabbed the sword, which looked strangely different from before, but I couldn't tell exactly how. It wasn't important now anyways. I was about to turn and leave when I saw something odd in the corner that I hadn't noticed before, a real sheath. I picked it up and found a note scribbled on what appeared to be a napkin,

'Joshua, I've caused you much pain. I've decided to leave this place, and all the spirits. Soon I will be dead and will bring no more harm. I found this sheath next to the box, even though it hasn't been opened, and I believe it's yours. Please forgive me for what I've done, I wanted so badly to do good.'


  Something lunged for me and I drew my sword from it's sheath, slicing it vertically. It retreated and the monster gave a low rumbling growl before three more shot out at me. I swung my sword low, cutting two of the things as I ducked low to avoid the third, but it wrapped around my waist, surprising me, and lifted me into the air too as I dropped my sword. I looked at Mortera, but she had a blank look on her face, and as she turned to look at me I could see that a small black vein was beginning to form on the side of her face, like the creature was trying to absorb her.

  I took a deep breath and looked down at the thing that held me, some sort of tentacle with a tight grip. The king of the Demons. I had always thought it was a myth that started because of all the craziness. If I didn't act quickly it would steal both our souls. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, and I felt myself lowering slowly. I couldn't move very much, all my muscles felt stiff, but I was dropping. I felt a thud as I touched the ground and I opened my eyes. The moonlight was now hitting the creature's face, but rather than a normal face it was a collection of absorbed bodies forming a face around the red eyes. The tentacle retreated, realizing it couldn't lift me, and I tried to run at the monster, but I was moving in slow motion, and I couldn't even break into a run. Slowly I looked down, and in the dim light I couldn't tell right away, but my skin wasn't just skin anymore, it was rock hard. I had actually changed my skin into rock to protect myself without even knowing.

  Slowly I regained muscle control and the rock melted into regular skin again, but as I looked back up the monster was already lunging to attack me. I moved left and grabbed onto one of the tentacles that lunged for me, then another, then I changed back into rock, grasping the tentacles tightly. The creature tried to pull away, but even as big as it was it couldn't move me, and I slowly took a step backwards, then another and another, pulling it into the warehouse. I quickly formed a plan and did some simple calculations, and as soon as I reached the opposite wall of the warehouse I changed back to normal and jumped at the wall, bouncing off and onto the monster's head, then from there to the roof of the warehouse, and from there I ran as fast as I could, the air itself becoming thick and hard to move through as I jumped from one building to another quickly making my way to the top of the pointed building and jumping at the warehouse without a second thought. As I soared through the air time slowed to a grinding halt, and I could see every detail with crystal clarity. The monster roaming the street two blocks away, the lone bird flying through the sky, a cat, probably infected, in a tree that passed below me. Everything was perfectly clear, including the arrow flying through the air to intercept me. It narrowly passed in front of my nose, the shaft itself slamming me in the face and throwing me off balance as I began to spiral out of control, almost forgetting to become stone as I dropped from the sky. When I did change into stone, however, the spin seemed to work in my favor, making me a human bullet as I soared for the monster. Two more arrows flew through the sky, but both bounced off my skin harmlessly as the monster itself finally looked up at me, it's red eyes wide as it tried to move back outside the warehouse, tentacles flailing wildly.

  When I woke up this time I was back in Alexa's bunker, but no one was around except Alexa standing over an unconscious Mortera. "Is... it gone?" I sat up, expecting to be paraplegic, or at the very least extremely sore, but I felt fine.

  "Gone but not dead. What you did was pretty brave... or stupid, take your pick. No demon would be dumb enough to go against that thing. You're lucky not to be dead."

  "Every day each of us is lucky to be alive." I wanted to be philosophical and wise for some reason.

  "Believe what you want. It's foolish to want to live in this world."

  Mortera's mouth twitched as she started to speak, "The spirits... they say there is a place that spirits can go when they die... a good place. But there isn't such a place. There is as much reason to live as there is to die. The spirits have to roam this world, avoiding the monsters for fear of becoming part of something like that creature. That was a shadow wraith... a soul eater. My brother." Both me and Alexa gave her a strange look, but she still had her eyes closed, and a smile danced on her lips.

  Alexa was the first to speak, "Brother?"

  She opened her eyes, "My big brother Morteros. I felt him talking, his soul spoke to me. He wants to escape. I have to save him."

  I looked at her, bewildered, "From that thing? How could you steal a soul from a soul eater? It nearly got you."

  She looked over at me innocently and blinked, "If he can use soul's to become a giant demon..." She sat up quickly, and accidentally bashed heads with Alexa, and they both fell backwards as I chuckled.

  "Are you alright?" I stood up and offered a hand to each of the girls, but only Mortera took the offer.

  "I need you to take me to my brother. He is drawn to you, and he doesn't know why. He said that he heard you when you crashed through the roof. If you can make enough noise he will come to you."

  "Why would he be so stupid..." Alexa started to talk, but I cut her off.

  "I'll do it." I could tell from the determined smile on her face that she had a plan, and I didn't.

  Alexa brushed herself off and turned around, "I'll help, but only because of what it did to my friends. I was following it last night because it attacked us and ran. That's when I saw you and thought you were a monster. If I'd have known it was you I would have tried to aim better." She walked over to the doorway and pointed at the gaping opening, where I had left through, "It's your fault for destroying the door. You'll pay for their lives after this is over. I don't care if you're the last man on earth, I will bring justice to my friends." Her eyes were cold, and I felt a chill run through my body.

  She turned towards the table and grabbed something, which she quickly threw at me. I caught it, mostly by accident, and looked at it. It was my sword, back in it's sheath. I pulled the sword out and examined it closely now, and after a few seconds I noticed three impressions on one side of the blade. As I looked closely at it, I realized that one of the holes matched one of the gems I'd seen on the box. No sooner had I thought of that than Alexa moved back to Mortera, revealing the box sitting on the table. I walked to the box quickly, searching it's surface for the exact gem, a sphere shaped pearl. I saw it among the snakes, but when I tried to grab it the snake seemed to move away from my hand. I tried again, but I still missed grabbing it, and angrily I hit the box. Suddenly all the snakes moved away from the spot, and the snake with the pearl in it's mouth was trapped under my fist. Both Alexa and Mortera had turned to see what I was doing, but I didn't pay attention as I grabbed the sphere.

  "What are you doing you idiot?" I turned my head towards Alexa

  "The sword has impressions in it, and one of these snakes had a pearl that looks like it fits the sword exactly."

  Alexa looked at the box, then back at me, "You mean the one holding the weird star shaped pearl?" I looked at the box, but I didn't see any more pearls.

  "No, I think he means the one holding the diamond shaped pearl." Mortera walked over to the chest and seemed to pluck something from it, and when she opened her there was nothing there, "Here you go."

  I blinked twice and opened my hand with uncertainty, but when she opened her hand something I couldn't see fell into mine.

  "There's nothing there... have you gone mad?" Alexa looked between the two of us, then grabbed something from the box and tossed something at me, and I raised my hand up to catch it, another invisible pearl. I held the two in my hand a moment, then looked at each of the girls before taking the sphere from the sword and handing it to Alexa before she could move away. "What the... there is something here? Is it... invisible?" I nodded slowly and took the pearl back, then carefully placed each one in the sword. As I slid the sphere back into place the sword lit up, then vanished, but I could still feel it in my hands.

  "It... became invisible. What was the point of that? Now if I drop it I'll never find it again."

  "No... it's not invisible... it's a part of your spirit now."

  "Gee, great, our holy hero of spirits now has his magical sword and can slay the evil beast. This is so stereotypical." Alexa glared at me with a forceful hatred that I could feel chilling me to the bones.

  "Alexa, don't be so mean... your bow... it is also an extension of your spirit... just like the souls I save are an extension of my spirit."

  "But... does that mean... you opened the box too?" Alexa looked at me, her head slightly tilted.

  "That can't be right..." Mortera looked at Alexa, then me, "I opened the box."

  I looked at the box, then at Alexa and Mortera, "It's not the same box... there was more than one box..." I walked over to the table and took the box, then Alexa moved and took something from the apparently empty table, and then Mortera reluctantly walked over and took something too. "We each received a box that day... 'the descendants of the original hope" a dream, foggy, but at the same time clear... something I had dreamed when I was a child.

  Alexa looked at me in surprise as Mortera began to mumble, "have branched long since the first outbreak. Each has inherited the curse"

  Alexa started to mumble along too, as if she were remembering a long forgotten song, "and each is compelled to fight the curse with their lives."

  "I say we open each box on three." I looked to each of them and they both nodded.

  "One... two... THREE!" I threw open the lid, and they seemed to open their own boxes and we all moved back a bit, but nothing seemed to happen for a long time, "It... didn't do anything."

  "Any other bright ideas, genius?"

  I looked into the box, almost putting my face into it, my eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness inside it. "A keyhole?"



  "What do you mean a keyhole?" Alexa looked closely into her box, "There's no... keyhole?" She pulled her face out slowly and looked at me, but Mortera didn't even look in hers.

  "You mean you never looked inside the box before?"

  "Not after I caused the apocalypse, no." I looked at her, then at Alexa, "What do you think this means?"

  "It means we have to find a key, but where would you hide a key to Pandora's box?" Alexa looked back down at her box.

  "I don't know, I don't think we'll ever find it as long as we're being hunted. We already got hope from the box, that was supposed to be the only good to come from Pandora's box." I looked into my own box

  "This isn't at all what I would have hoped for. I'm a monster, my brother's a monster, and everyone is dead." Mortera shed a single tear as she stood up and walked to the doorway, light now shining in through it.

  "I had to cut my parent's heads off.." it sounded strange coming from my lips, but they seemed to understand what I meant.

  "I never had a real family, my friends were my family and they're gone now. The only thing we can do is fight to change the world." Alexa stood up tall, "I won't let them have died for no reason, we aren't giving up just because we don't have a stupid key, screw the box, and fuck being Pandora! My destiny isn't determined by a myth or a box, it's determined by my will and my bow!" She walked towards me and pulled me to my feet, practically dragging me to Mortera, "We're saving your brother's soul, tonight."

  Mortera turned her head to us and smiled through her tears, "He'll be happy then."

  I strapped my sheath on, then slid my sword into it as Alexa got her bow ready and Mortera paced back and forth around the room. The sun was going down, and I had no doubt that we wouldn't have to do much to attract Mortera's brother. These things never gave up when they wanted to kill someone.

  "Everyone knows the plan right?" Alexa looked at both of us and we nodded in turn. We had talked all day about our powers and everything we knew about the monster. I'd been practicing with my new sword for the past hour, but none of us knew exactly what it would do against the creature. Alexa didn't need practice with her bow, she had never even used a bow before she opened the box, so we assumed it was part of her power as an archer. The plan was complicated and risky, but if we were lucky we could pull it off.

  Lost in my thoughts I barely heard Mortera say my name but I snapped out of it when she started pulling me off to the side and away from Alexa. "Josh, I know we don't really know each other, but you've saved my life more than once." She kissed me once really quickly, "thank you." Dazed I blinked twice as she walked back to Alexa, and I could still feel her lips on mine for a moment.

  The last rays of light shone over the top of the lowest buildings, it was time to move. I grabbed Alexa and Mortera by the waist and looked at each of them, "Ready?"

  "Ready" They both said, almost in unison, so I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and knelt down, my arm still around their waists as they braced themselves. I started off at a slow pace compared to how I had been running lately, then brought them both in front of me, squeezing them tightly as I started running faster and faster, soon reaching my top speed. I saw a building in front of me, and I jumped as high as I could, landing between two windows on the third story and jumping off to a building behind me, landing on the fifth story of the building and continuing my sprint. The shadows of the buildings were getting longer as I reached the edge of the building, and as I kicked off I soared through the air, both girls grasping my shirt tightly as I jumped straight over ten smaller buildings, landing on top of a six story building and jumping off the edge of that, straight out of the city and into the suburbs. I felt something behind me, a presence that seemed to call my name, but I didn't stop or look back. I jumped one more time and landed in the hills, where I skidded to a stop leaving marks across the grass, and let the girls down. Looking back I saw a shadow waiting on the other side of the hills, but the sun was still setting here, because there were no buildings blocking it. The girls looked around dazed, but quickly took their positions Mortera on my right and Alexa to the left.

  The sun was quickly dropping behind the buildings ahead of us, and the creature was just barely visible, hiding in the shadow of the building closest to us. I grabbed for my sword twice, because I missed the first time, and I heard the stretching of a bowstring as Alexa readied her weapon. Mortera was muttering something silently, and the shadows of the valley themselves seemed to be moving towards her. A chill ran through the valley as the creature roared, and moved closer, it's huge red eyes staring directly at me. I could feel the chill run through my bones as it crept across the hills, it's flailing razor sharp tentacles pulling it along slowly. One of the tentacles seemed to be holding a dead body for a moment, but whatever it was quickly vanished back into the writhing mass of the creature. The creature itself didn't actually have a body and it was grotesque and fearsome, but we knew what we had to do.

  One of the tentacles shot out at us, but I brought the sword on it quickly, but the creature moved back just before I cut into it. Alexa took aim with the bow and released an arrow, which quickly zipped through the air at the creature, but with amazing speed a tentacle shot up, breaking the arrow into pieces, the creature itself roaring angrily as three more tentacles shot out at Alexa. I moved in and cut the tips off of them just before they hit her, causing them to recoil and return to the monster, but another tentacle was already inches from my face and getting closer. There was no time to react, so I closed my eyes.

  Slowly I opened one eye, and jumped back. The tentacle that would have otherwise killed me had been mere millimeters from my eye, but it wasn't moving. I opened my other eye, and I could see a bright ball of light around the tentacle, seeming to hold it back. I brought my sword upwards and cut the tentacle vertically, and the white ball flew upwards and closer to the eyes of the creature. The creature seemed captivated by it, almost as if it didn't want to move, but I couldn't see exactly what the ball of light was. It had wings, like an angel, but it had white claws that looked exactly like those of the monsters. "Is that..." Before I could finish my thought Alexa let an arrow fly, striking the monster in the eye, and I raised my sword and ran at it, following her lead, but just as I was getting close to it one of the tentacles whipped around from nowhere and sent me flying backwards. I tried to turn myself to stone, but I couldn't concentrate and it didn't work as well as before, so I felt every bit of it when I hit the tree, even though it didn't break my bones. Everything went dark for a moment, and I'm not sure how long I was knocked out.

  Dazed I stood up and charged again, the white thing still hovering above the creature, but as I got closer I stopped and stared in horror. The angel hung limp from one of the tentacles, a red stream flowing down from it, and on another tentacle hung Alexa, who was still trying to lift her bow with all her might. Finally she gave up, letting the bow fall to the ground, and as she did she turned to me, and with her last breath she smiled at me. I took a step forward, sword in hand, but as I did a shadow flew out from the wound of the angel, and then another, and another, before hundreds of shadows suddenly burst forth, blinding me momentarily, and after a moment all that was left was Mortera, struggling for breath. She too looked at me, but instead of a smile she tried to mouth something to me... she only got as far as 'I' before her eyes went dull and her head hung limp.

  I took another step back, my head clouded with anger and sorrow. Everyone was dead. I took another step back. There was no good left in the world. I took one more step back, my foot resting against the tree I had just been thrown into. I stared at the monster with intense hatred and as I pushed off of it the tree shattered, and the ground beneath my feet shook. My heart thudded in my chest and nothing was real anymore. Nothing existed and everything was a blur except the creature, and the bodies of Mortera and Alexa. I jumped into the air, grasping the hilt of the sword in both hands and pointing it down as I dropped from the air. Thoughts raced through my head, memories of everything I had ever been through, and everything that could have been danced in my hand, and just as suddenly as they came they disappeared, the sword shaking as I landed a blow straight into the creature's eye. With a smile on my face I watched it struggle, the sword now glowing furiously in the dark night and the creature's strength quickly fading. With a yell I pulled the sword out of the creature, and from the whole a shadow flew out, then another. As each shadow forced it's way out the hole grew bigger, and as the hole grew bigger more shadows came out. I looked forward and saw a creature on the edge of town, struggling with itself just before a shadow flew from it, and behind it I saw an army of the creatures who had been watching, all struggling.

  I stopped watching them and turned my attention back to the creature as the last of the shadows fled from the creature. The flow of shadows was quickly slowing, and the monster had stopped moving completely. One last shadow came from the creature, one in physical form, a boy that looked much like Alexa, and I knew I had done what she had wanted me to do. He smiled at me for a long time before he disappeared, leaving the creature nothing more than a shell now. I looked up at the sky, the last of my strength fading too as a stream of blood flowed from my mouth. My heart stopped pounding slowly, and I had stopped breathing. The sky had never been more beautiful or full of stars before. I didn't have enough strength to look up anymore, and as my head drooped I could see the tentacle that had gone straight through my chest. This time I had a feeling I wouldn't be making a miraculous recovery.

  You don't really feel when your soul leaves your body, you just know it has. The pain stops and you can see every soul that has ever died before you as clearly as you would have seen a person standing next to you in your life. I slowly fell to the ground, my own impaled body hanging above me and swaying in the night breeze that I couldn't feel. I closed my eyes for a moment, and tried to take a deep breath, but there was no air either. No feeling... I suddenly understood why spirits were so sad. I opened my eyes and took a step forward, but instead of walking I found myself floating through the air, being pulled by the souls that had gone before me. They were taking me somewhere, and suddenly I felt that my job here was not yet done. I let myself be carried through a river of souls, until finally we came to a stop outside a familiar place, Alexa's bunker. I was set down in front of the doorway, hundreds of eyes that had been so unchanged for years now shimmering with excitement in the moonlight.

  I turned and stepped into the room, where Mortera and Alexa were already standing, and I smiled widely as I saw that her brother had found his way to her. She looked at me, and I wanted to ask her what she had said before, but she seemed to know what I was thinking and she shook her head. I saw that they were each standing over a box, but when I first saw it I didn't recognize them. They were the boxes of Pandora, only rather than golden snakes the outside was made of beautiful ivory, each adorned with a gleaming jewel of a different color and shape. For a moment I wondered if this is how spirits saw the box, but I put it out of my mind quickly as I took my place over the box with a blue spherical gem on the top and opened it. I looked from Mortera to Alexa, and we each joined hands, and as I did I could feel them, their hands and their energy. Slowly we lifted into the air over our boxes, a glint of light appearing deep in each of our chests just before I closed my eyes, unsure of what to expect. I opened my eyes, and watched the three lights dance around the room before joining together as a single larger and brighter light, illuminating the room and making Mortera and Alexa appear golden. I took a deep breath, and suddenly realized I was breathing, and in my shock I almost didn't hear the click from the box below me. I looked down to see a light shining from deep within the the keyhole, which suddenly burst upwards engulfing me as the same light came from Mortera's and Alexa's box. In the middle of our circle the light pulsed danced and swayed rhythmically and hypnotically, just like it had at my house all those nights ago, and it changed from a yellowish color to pure white. The room began to spin wildly, my hands gripping theirs tighter as everything began to shake and rumble. Spirits that had crept in to admire the show were stumbling and falling over, and I felt sure I couldn't hold on much longer, but the white light began to expand in the midst of all this chaos, growing into a large sphere, a hole between here and somewhere else.

  The spinning and shaking stopped, and the room began to calm down again, leaving us joined, hand in hand, around the portal, and as the first of the spirits began to wander through it, all I could say was "It's beautiful."